This invention relates to a coin collection device for attachment to various types of vending machines or coin-operated amusement devices, etc. and, in particular, it relates to an improvement in simple coin collection devices that lack a change-making mechanism.
The growing popularity of vending machines and ticket dispensing machines has been accompanied by the development of high-grade fee collection devices that can make change and accept high-value paper money. These devices have had to be large and expensive, because they need a large coin storage device to be preloaded with a large number of coins for change-making and because they need sophisticated sensors and computers to detect counterfeit paper money.
But such high-tech, large-size devices are not needed for collecting, for example, fees for small rides for children in amusement parks and elsewhere, fees for game machines, or fees for capsule vendors, which sell inexpensive toys or prizes inside small capsules. In such applications, where a fixed fee is collected in the form of coins, one needs only a simple coin collection device with no change-making function. There are many fields in which such a simple device suffices.
But simple coin collection devices with no change-making function have heretofore been unable to quickly and correctly handle such situations as when the user mistakenly puts in too much money or, in the midst of inserting coins, wishes to have inserted coins returned because he notices that he does not have the right coins for the remaining amount. Because such devices are often used by children, trouble has arisen.
Another inconvenience is that when the fee to be collected changes, such as with a change in the sales tax rate, one must call upon the manufacturer to replace the necessary parts.
To adapt the device to be able to promptly handle such eventualities, it has been necessary to make the device complicated, sophisticated, and large.